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Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off 1544 Steam Mop Review

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Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off 1544 Steam Mop ReviewRating: 4.8 stars47 Reviewed by

 

In this review of the Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off Steam Mop, you’ll learn everything you need to know about specs, performance and price and why this is perfect for cleaning much more than just your hard floor surfaces.

I purchased this mop in March of 2017 and have been using it regularly since then.

As a self-proclaimed tester, I can tell you exactly how it stacks up to other models I’ve used and why this one has become my go-to cleaning tool.

There are a number of different model numbers for this unit but all of them are identical other than for the 5th digit. The first four are always #1544.

The 5th digit could be blank, 3, 6, 8, A, or B and simply indicates where it might have been sold. I have the 1544A.

 

 

Table of Contents
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Description / Flooring Types / Mop Head Shape & Size / Water Tank & Steam / How Well it Cleans / Controls / Lift Off Cleaner & Attachments / Cleaning Solution Options / Dimensions / Pros / Cons / Price / Reviews & Ratings / Summary

Description

Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off 1544 Steam Mop

This is a 2-in-1 steam mop because it of the lift-off canister that separates from the base and comes with a selection of attachments that can be used to clean all kinds of yucky things like toilets, showers, bathtubs, grout, stove tops, microwaves, and even baseboards.

Bissell seems to play up the fact that this model is most useful to those who own pets because you can clean and sanitize without having to use any chemicals but, while I do have a dog, I would find this to be just as useful whether I had a pet or not. It’s that handy.

This is NOT a vacuum nor does it clean upholstery. It is meant for cleaning hard surfaces (floors, counters, glass, toilets, showers, tubs, sinks).

This mop is very lightweight and easy to maneuver. It’s available only in one, very bright color combination – white and “Samba Orange”.

It comes with the mop, 1 Microfiber Soft Pad, 1 Microfiber Scrubby Pad, Odor Eliminating Fragrance Discs, Attachable Water Cup, 13 tools, a tool bag, and a Microfiber towel.

Here are the details of my order (I got the mop and 2 extra sets of mop head pads):

Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off Receipt

Flooring Types

You can this one on a larger variety of floor types because of the ability to choose a high or low steam setting but also, because of the way the controls work, the option to use it without steam.

Bissell says it’s safe to use on ceramic tile, marble, stone, and sealed hard wood floors. In reply comments on other sites the manufacturer has also said it’s safe to use on bamboo.

If you have waxed floors or unsealed floors or flooring that is susceptible to water damage, you should not use this mop.

There are also two features that help with cleaning grout – a constant challenge if you have tile floors.

The mop comes in 3 parts which click together and then must be secured with one, provided screw.

The shape of the mop head is rectangular but with a rounded back.

Without the mop pad attached, the mop head is 13 inches wide at the front which matches the cleaning path dimension that Bissell gives in the product description. The head measures 7 ½ inches from the front to the back when measured in the middle but tapers down so that it is only 4 ½ inches at each of the sides.

The pads are about ¼ inch thick so when the pad is attached, the width of the mop head becomes 13 ½ inches.

The height of the mop head determines whether or not it will fit under furniture. While this one isn’t completely flat because it rises in the middle where it meets the base of the handle, it is 2 ¼ inches tall at that highest point which is really low. That middle point slopes down to the front of the mop head which is only 1” tall. Even with the mop pad attached, you only need 1 ¼” of clearance to go under furniture. You can certainly fully reach under your lower kitchen and bathroom cabinets without an issue.

The handle itself goes down almost to the floor – nearly flat with the mop head – so you can get a good ways under furniture until you meet the base of the lift-off canister and then you’d need 8 inches of clearance to get under anything.

There is only one steam vent at the bottom of the mop pad. It’s a slit with a 180 degree opening so that steam is sent out to the front and sides of the mop head.

Steam is emitted constantly once you have selected the steam level (high or low) regardless of whether the mop is moving forward or backward.

Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off Steam Mop Vent Opening

The mop head does swivel. The handle connects to a rotating unit at the top of the mop head and swivels easily 90 degrees to each side. When I’m feeling particularly lazy I can get completely under my kitchen table and around the legs of the six chairs without moving them.

Bissell 1544 Steam Mop Swivel Head

It handles corners well and gets almost everything. You still end up with just a tiny bit of untouched flooring in inner corners that don’t get touched by the mop pad so you will likely still have to make a final swipe with a rag in those corners. However, it does a great job on edges and gets right up to the baseboard.

What I don’t like so much is that the mop head does not fit well behind toilets. The space behind my toilet is 7 inches. As I mentioned, the head tapers from 4 ½ inches at the sides to 7 ½ inches in the middle. So, I can get a bit of the edge of the mop behind the toilet before I run into that wider part. I can do this on both sides of the toilet but it misses about a one inch strip right behind the toilet. I end up doing that part by hand but I have tried other steam mops that don’t even reach that far behind the toilet so I’m okay with this one issue.

The Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off steam mop comes with 2 microfiber mop head pads. One is meant for lighter cleaning and more sensitive flooring while the other is called the scrubby mop pad and has a slightly rougher texture for use on sturdier flooring types (like tile) and when floors have more grime that might require some extra scrubbing. Because I have all tile floors, I use the scrubby mop pad every time I mop.

It takes a few seconds to get the mop pad on the head. The mop pad has elastic around the edge and there’s a lip around the mop head that the elastic of the pad slips into so it does take two hands to get them on. I either lay the unit down on the floor or on my counter to attach a pad.

The mop pads never slip off during use because of the elastic and the slot that holds it into place on the head. There is a cloth tab, though, that you can pull on to remove the pad when you’re done so you don’t have to touch the wet, dirty pad when you’re done. The mop pad always comes off very easily that way.

The pads are reusable and hold up well. I did purchase two extra of each type when I first bought the mop because I knew I’d need to go through at least two every time I did the floors and I always want to have at least one clean one on hand. A set of 2 extra costs about $15.

Inside each of the mop pads is a little mesh pocket where you can tuck in a scent disk Bissell makes. Some samples are included with the mop. I used them and I like the scent but the scent doesn’t hang around long enough after mopping to be worth the money, in my opinion. They are not required for cleaning so I don’t think of this as a big deal.

The mop pads are machine washable and although the manufacturer recommends letting them air dry I usually forget that part and have thrown them in the dryer on high heat. They do get grey and dingy pretty quickly and that grey never seems to wash out out but you can tell the mop pads are clean after you’ve washed them. You’re not supposed to use bleach on them so I just live with the dingy grey color.

At first, I would use one mop pad for an entire session – about 2000 square feet of glazed, ceramic tile. However, I started to notice that the dimples in our tile were collecting grey, dirty water after I started using this mop.

In part, that was the result of using only the scrubby mop pad heads which are probably a bit less absorbent than the other mop pad. It was also the result of using one mop pad for more square footage. I now go through 3 mop pads to do that same area and that has helped a lot. As a result, I’d recommend having at least one mop pad for every 500 sq feet of flooring PLUS however many extra you’d like to have on hand for emergencies (like when all the others are sitting in the laundry room and haven’t been washed yet and your child spills his grape juice all over the floor).

This mop is not self-propelled but it is VERY easy to push around if you have the steam turned on. However, the rougher your floor surface, the more effort you have to put into pushing the mop. Tile and such are fine but if you try to use this on slate or a similar rough surface, it won’t slide along as easily.

Some users mentioned that they thought the mop left streaks on their floors. That could be the case with some flooring types. I have large, square tiles that are a light brown and have not noticed any streaks.

Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off Water Tank & Steam

I’ll get to the attachments and the lift-off canister capabilities below but the main reason anyone buys a steam mop is for making the task of cleaning floors easier and less time-consuming.

In that respect, it’s important to understand the water tank size and your ability to control the steam output.

Interestingly, the manual for the Bissell PowerFresh series 1544 steam mops says that the water tank capacity is 13 ounces but the Bissell website says it holds 13.5 ounces.

To make matters more confusing, the provided water cup you receive for use in filling the water tank has a fill line marked to 15 ounces.

To find out the actual water tank size, I completely emptied mine, filled the provided water cup to 15 ounces and then filled the tank until the water touched the bottom of the rubber gasket that surrounds the fill hole. (There is no fill line on the tank and the manual only says not to overfill it.)

That left 1.5 ounces in the water cup which means I was able to put 13.5 ounces in the tank.

Filling the tank is easy using the provided fill cup. The opening in the tank is pretty forgiving so I rarely spill while filling it.

The mop starts heating as soon as you plug it in and steam doesn’t start coming out until you select a steam level which can’t be done until the heat up process is complete. Bissell says this takes 30 seconds. I used a stop watch to time the heat up process and, yes, it was done in almost exactly 30 seconds.

Once the mop is ready to go, you select a steam level (high or low) and then it takes another 30-60 seconds before you can tell the steam has saturated the mop pad.

If you have to unplug the mop to move to a new area, you do have to wait those 30 seconds all over again for the Ready light to come on but you don’t have to wait those 30-60 seconds for the mop pad to get wet unless you’ve put on a fresh mop pad.

Bissell says the mop will go for about 23 minutes on one tank of water depending on the steam setting you select. That is accurate. On the high steam setting I can go for just over 16 minutes and I can go for more than 23 minutes on the low steam setting.

Using the high steam setting, I can do 400 sq feet of tile on one tank of water. Using the low setting, I can cover almost 600 sq feet.

Chart Showing Operating Stats for Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off Steam Mop

Floors are dry enough for walking in just under 2 minutes which is very handy in a busy household. It’s not that they aren’t getting wet or not getting cleaned. You can see the damp path of where the mop has been but you’re applying so much less water than you are with a manual mop that it dries much more quickly.

It’s also convenient for those rush mop jobs like when your mother-in-law calls and says she’s just going to stop by for a bit and she’ll be there in 10 minutes and your entry floor is a mess. With the Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off steam mop I can get that entry way and my kitchen done and dry before she walks in the door.

It is highly recommended that you use only distilled or demineralized water in the tank. The mop may work fine for awhile using tap water but, over time, mineral deposits will build up in the tank and may eventually cause the mop to stop working or to stop working as effectively as it was when it was new. Using the recommended kind of water will help the mop last longer.

Bissell does sell scented demineralized water available to use with this model. I haven’t tried it but the reviews say the smell doesn’t last long enough to bother with so I just don’t see it as being worthwhile.

Having to buy distilled water is a pain ONLY if you forget to buy it when you go to the store. Once you get in the habit of keeping it on hand in your cleaning closet, it’s no longer an issue and it’s very cheap. My local grocery store sells it for $0.89 per gallon. You could make distilled water at home but it’s extremely time-consuming to make even a small amount.

There are 128 ounces in a gallon of distilled water and at a 13.5 ounce tank capacity you can get 9.5 tanks from the one gallon. That’s a cost of $.09/tank using an $0.89 gallon of distilled water.

Considering that I can cover 400 sq feet on one tank that means that one gallon of distilled water would cover 3800 sq feet of flooring with one gallon of water.

If you don’t like the idea of buying distilled water regularly, you could buy something like a counter top distiller and distill water at home. However, it takes 4 hours for that machine to make one gallon of distilled water and at its current price, you’d have to mop about 470,000 sq feet of flooring before the distiller would start paying for itself. That would mean my mopping the main floor of my house 235 times. If I mopped once a week, it would take 4.5 years before that distiller would pay for itself. I’d rather just buy the distilled water.

Another step to take to prolong the life of the steam mop is to empty the tank after every use. That will prevent water from sitting in the tank and letting the chemicals settle into the tank and hoses. The tank is easy to empty since it is embedded in the lift off canister. Just pull off the canister and pour the water out into the sink. You do have to shake it a few times to get the last bit out and might even want to let it air dry for a bit before putting the cap back in place.

Some people have reported that the water tank cap breaks easily. Because Amazon has one listing with multiple versions of a Bissell steam mop it’s very likely that those comments apply to one of the other models because I’ve not had any issue with the tank cap. In fact, I don’t understand how this one could break in such a way that you couldn’t keep using the mop. This one doesn’t really have a “cap” so much as a plug. It’s a triangular piece of plastic that is attached with a thin, plastic link. The plastic link has not torn in any way but, even if it did, the plug would still fit into the tank and you could still pull it out as there’s a dip around one edge that you use for pulling the plug out of the tank.

There is a see-through window so you can tell if there is water in the tank or not but looking at that window isn’t sufficient to tell you if you have to put more water in the tank in order to keep mopping. Instead, you’ll hear a noticeable clicking noise when the tank is running low and needs to be refilled.

My mop has never leaked. There is no excess water that drips during or after use.

According to the Bissell website, this steam mop does not have a filter so there’s nothing that has to be replaced over time to keep the mop working.

As I’ve mentioned, there are two settings for steam – high and low. A question I’ve seen come up is whether or not this mop can be used WITHOUT the steam turned on at all. This would be useful to know for flooring types that are sensitive to heat or water damage.

To use the mop without any steam, you could plug it in so that it heats up, hold the mop off of any sensitive flooring and select a steam level. Wait a minute or two to let the steam saturate the mop pad and then press the On/Off button to stop steam from coming out of the mop.

You could then mop with a warm, damp mop pad without the steam. You may have to repeat the process every 5 minutes or so to keep the mop pad warm and moist. You would be able to clean your floors this way but you won’t be sanitizing them. This would be the method you might use on hard wood floors, laminate floors, and other sensitive floor types.

How Well Does the Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off Steam Mop Clean?

Let’s talk about cleaning and sanitizing.

The mop does a great cleaning the floors. You can push the mop over regular dirt and grime that has build up and it’s wiped away in one or two passes. There is very little effort on your part required to do this other than to push the mop back and forth. I never break a sweat when using this mop no matter how much time I spend mopping.

Stuck on dirt, like dried jelly, might take a few more passes. I hold my mop over stuck on food or dirt for 5-10 seconds and then it’s easier to mop it away.

There’s an added feature that I very much appreciate because my tile has dips and grooves in it and that feature is the flip down EasyScrubber on the back of the mop base. It’s a bristled brush that is 3 ½” long and 1” wide and is flipped up by default. You can press it down with your foot (although I usually have to do it 2-3 times before it clicks into the down position) and then you have a scrubber you can push back and forth over difficult spots. There’s a little plastic tab you step on to flip it back up and out of the way.

EasyScrubber at back of Bissell 1544 Steam Mop

I LOVE this! I noted earlier that sometimes I’ve seen some dirt has collected in the grooves in my tile. I use the EasyScrubber a few times on any such spot and it’s gone. This also works well for stuck on food. By pushing the mop back and forth so that the EasyScrubber hits a particular spot, I save myself from having to bend down and get it with a rag. (Or my fingernail – am I the only that has done that?!)

The bristles are stiff and have not been flattened out at all in over 1 year of use. They’re not so stiff that they scratch my floors and I have used it on vinyl flooring, too.

Sanitizing is different than just cleaning. Steam is an efficient and chemical-free method of disinfecting your home. If you have pets who like to lick your floors free of crumbs and then children crawling along those floors, you want to keep your floors as free of chemicals AND germs as possible.

The Bissell product description for the PowerFresh steam mop says that this one eliminates 99.9% of germs and bacteria but there’s a footnote that explains this is only the case “when used as directed, using the microfiber pads”.

Steam is effective only when applied for an appropriate amount of time and the only instruction provided in the manual for sanitizing your floors is to move the mop back and forth slowly over a spot AT LEAST 3 times. I assume that’s meant to help you make sure that you’ve applied steam for a sufficient amount of time but to really sanitize an area you’d be better off holding the mop over a specific spot for 8-15 seconds (15 seconds is the best bet).

The temperature of the emitted steam also makes a difference. The steam is very hot but I have yet to take a measurement. I’ll update the review when I find my little device for measuring the temperature. (It’s somewhere around here….)

Controls

The handle of this steam mop is very comfortable. It’s shaped like a hook and easy to grip. The base of the hook serves as a carry handle when you have to pick up the mop to move it from place to place.

The mop operates on 1500 watts of power and you can choose from two different steam levels – high and low.

The buttons that control operation are located on the top of the lift off canister which makes them easy to reach. The labels are easy to read, too, and have not worn over time. They are also easy to push and each has a white indicator light.

Because the indicator lights are white they are sometimes difficult to see in really bright sun light. I have a bathroom with a window over the shower that lets in lots of light during certain times of the day. If I’m mopping in that room during that time, I sometimes have to block the sun light in order to see the indicator light. That’s the only time I’m unable to see them clearly.

When you first plugin in the mop, the Ready indicator light starts to flash. When the unit is done heating up, the light becomes solid. You then press the On/Off button and THEN select the steam level – either Hi or Lo. This takes some getting used to because pushing the On/Off button when the Ready light already says it’s ready, doesn’t seem to make sense. When it says it is ready, I want to select the steam and go but that’s wrong. You have to push that On/Off button first.

Once you push the On/Off button, its indicator light turns on. When you push one of the steam options, its indicator light also comes on so you’ll see that the mop is both on AND which level of steam has been chosen.

Rather than turning off the mop, you can push the On/Off button again to keep the mop in heating mode but stop it from emitting steam. This can be helpful if you have to stop to move furniture around but don’t want to waste steam while doing so.

There is no steam trigger that you have to hold while mopping and that’s a huge relief to my hands. I have a different steam mop that has a trigger and it’s surprisingly painful to have to hold down or constantly push a trigger.

In the case of this steam mop, steam is emitted consistently once you’ve selected a steam level no matter which direction you’re moving and without having to press anything else.

The noise level is very minimal. There’s a little ticking noise when you first select a steam setting but that goes away after about 20 seconds. Then there’s a light sputtering noise that indicates the steam is coming out through the vent opening at the bottom of the mop head. It’s quiet enough that you can hear the TV while mopping. You could certainly use this while someone was sleeping in another room and they wouldn’t notice.

The mop can fall over easily but less so than others I’ve tested. I have had it fall over maybe 3 times in the past year and a half and, fortunately, it’s suffered no damage as a result. I have a different model of steam mop that fell over once and the handle completely broke off. This one is definitely sturdier.

It seems wobbly when you stand it upright to leave it alone but the handle is designed to tip forward a little so it’s at a slight angle over the mop head in order to keep it upright. Just to be safe, I always brace it against a counter or chair or something when I need to leave it for a minute. I face it towards the counter and make sure the handle is all the way forward.

The steam mop is not cordless and must be plugged in to be used. At 25’ long, the cord length is very good. You’re not too limited in how far you can go from the outlet.

Swivel Power Cord Hook on the Bissell Steam Mop

The power cord is not retractable but has a standard set of clips for wrapping the cord – like those you’d see on a vacuum cleaner. The top hook flips 360 degrees so you can quickly remove the cord. There’s also a hook clip at the top so you can keep the cord up away from the mop head and can quickly grab it at that point if you need to swing the cord out of the way. There’s no need to have to reach down to the floor to get a hold of the cord unless you skip using that clip.

Lift-Off Cleaner & Attachments

Bissell says that a there are 13 cleaning tools that come with the PowerFresh Lift-Off steam mop and most of them are incredibly useful although the set of tools can vary by model number. In addition, Bissell counts the scent disks and the mop pads as tools in the list in the manual so it’s hard to figure out what counts as a “tool”.

I have the 1544A and the following are the attachments that came in the tool bag:

  • Extension hose – this is a 4’ 4” long flexible yet sturdy, plastic hose that attaches to the lift off canister one one end and allows a tool to be attached to the other. With use of the hose, you can reach into smaller spaces with the attached tool. It comes in very handy and I’ve had no issues with it in a year and a half of use.
  • Window squeegee – this slips onto the tool connector that attaches to the lift off canister and is meant for cleaning mirrors, windows, or shower doors. It works on vertical or horizontal surfaces. However, I wish it worked better than it does. I find that the pad you attach to the window squeegee gets dripping wet very quickly and you end up with a lot of water on the floor or counter below. I also have have two glass block windows and a glass block wall around my shower and it’s harder to use the squeegee for glass block because the glass isn’t flat nor are the blocks very large.
  • Flat surface tool – allows you to apply steam through a smaller mop pad to small areas the mop won’t reach – like behind toilets – or to non-floor surfaces.
  • Brass bristle brush – these are really stiff bristles which could be useful for scrubbing extremely tough grime like that on barbecue grills.
  • Fabric tool – to be used to apply steam to freshen fabrics like pet beds and upholstery. This is NOT meant for cleaning fabric – only for freshening it up.
  • Kitchen brush (green) – this brush attachment has softer, green bristles that can be used for cleaning around stove tops and sinks.
  • 2 Bathroom brushes (red & black) – these brushes can be used to scrub grout lines or detail in and around showers, bathtubs, and toilets.
  • Tool connector – this attaches to the lift off canister on one side and allows a tool to be connected to the other so steam can pass through the attached tool.
  • Angle concentrator – for sterilizing and reaching into tight spaces. I use this to get all the junk out of the toilet seat hinges and to apply a light steam to baseboards when dust and grime won’t wipe away easily.
  • Grout brush – on the product page, they show it being used to clean grout along a bathtub. I used it on my tile floor grout. It wore out very quickly. The bristles smashed down and are not very effective at scrubbing any longer. However, I use the angle concentrator on grout and a separate brush and that’s very effective.
  • Flat scraping tool – for scraping tough, stuck-on food and grime. This is much nicer than using my fingernail or a knife to scrape up yucky stuff stuck to the floors.

Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off Steam Mop Grout Brush After Use with Flattened Bristles

I don’t know if mine didn’t come with a carpet glider or if I’ve misplaced it. I think it didn’t come with one although that seems like something you’d really want for a steam mop that’s targeted towards pet owners. However, you can buy a replacement one for about $10.

What isn’t included – nor can you find one online – is a manual that explains how to attach and use those tools. This seems like an odd thing to exclude on the part of Bissell but once you mess with the attachments a bit, how to attach them and how to use them becomes clearer.

It does require two hands to remove the lift-off canister. You have to press a button to release the unit and pull with the other hand. It clicks easily back into place, though.

It might be tempting to use the upright, full mop to clean vertical surfaces like shower walls but that’s very awkward and you might find that water drips out of the unit. Instead, use the attachments to do the same thing. The attachments aren’t as large as the mop head so it will take longer but it will be a heck of a lot easier. However, I have a flat shower floor and DO use the mop to clean the floor rather than using the attachments.

While I mentioned earlier that this isn’t just for pet owners, I AM a pet owner and have made good use of the attachments for cleaning up small messes made by my Chihuahua. I’ve used it to mop up dog pee, spit up, and even used it to clean dog pee off of my sliding glass door, the sliding glass door blinds, and the door track. My dog is very well behaved but he gets a little territorial AFTER other dogs have visited and likes to let us know by peeing on one spot on the blinds.

When you have the lift-off canister removed to use with attachments, the canister can tip over if you pull too hard on the extension cord used with some of the attachments. Just remember to move the canister closer to where you’re using it if you’re doing something like grout or working on a large area. The manual does say it’s okay to lay the lift-off canister on its side while in use, too.

The included bag that holds all of the attachments is a thin black material with a draw string to secure all the attachments inside. They all fit but you do have to dig through the bag to find the smaller attachments when you need them.

Replacement parts can be found here: https://www.bissell.com/powerfresh-pet-lift-off-steam-mop-15441

Cleaning Solution Options

You cannot use chemicals, essential oils, vinegar or anything else besides water in the water tank of the Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off steam mop. You should ONLY put distilled or demineralized water in the water tank.

However, my husband likes to smell of a freshly cleaned house so I do have a spray bottle I fill with Pine-Sol for use in mopping. I spray the Pine-Sol on the floor and then mop over it. That not only aids in disinfecting my floors but gives off that smell hubby likes. I don’t end up with tacky floors with or without using Pine-Sol.

Dimensions

Height: 44 ¼ inches

Cord length: 25 feet

Weight: 10 pounds

Plug: Polarized

Pros

  • Great cord length
  • Easy to use
  • No trigger to hold down
  • Adjustable steam – high and low
  • Can be used without steam if you heat it up first and then turn off the steam
  • Swivel head
  • Good cleaning path width
  • Flip down EasyScrubber on the back of the mop head for extra scrubbing on tough spots
  • Because of the lift off canister, it cleans much more than hard floor surfaces
  • Lots of attachments which greatly increases the functionality
  • Cleans floors very well
  • Covers approximately 400 sq feet on one tank at highest steam setting
  • Handles corners well
  • Easy to maneuver
  • Floors dry in under 2 minutes
  • Reusable, machine-washable map pods
  • Sturdy
  • Replacement parts available

Cons

  • Does not always remove dirt in dimples in your flooring and, in fact, dimples seem to collect some of the dirty water from the mop head
  • Doesn’t fit behind toilets (but the included attachments can be used with the lift-off canister to get those areas)
  • Window squeegee does not work very well – if that’s the one thing you’re really looking forward to using, this won’t do it for you
  • Bristles of the grout brush mashed down after one use
  • Not self propelled (but very easy to push around on most floor types)
  • Requires distilled or demineralized water (most steam mops do)

Price

The price of the mop has not changed since I purchased it in March of 2017. It’s not the cheapest steam mop on the market but it’s far cheaper than buying both a steam mop and a handheld steam cleaner so if you’ve wanted something that you could use to apply steam for help in cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, you’ll save yourself some money getting this 2-in-1 option. It’s also about half the price of the more expensive steam mops.

I think the price is extremely reasonable considering how well it cleans, how sturdy it is compared to cheaper models, and because of the added cleaning functionality.

Even if it died right now, it would have cost me only $6.50/month for the 20 months of great use I’ve had so far.

It does come with a 2 year limited warranty, too.

Bissell PowerFresh Lift-Off Steam Mop 1544 Reviews & Ratings

Having tested a number of steam mops over the years, I’d give this one a 4.8.

One thing to note if you’re researching this model on Amazon, their current listing combines several very different models. Reviews and ratings on the product page can be for any one of those models which means that, if you aren’t careful, you might think a review has to do with the PowerFresh Lift-Off model when it doesn’t.

So, while they show over 10,000 reviews when I conducted my research in the past week, only 332 of them applied to this model. You can filter the reviews to look at only those that apply to this model but you won’t see the overall RATING for just this model.

In either case, overall ratings on multiple sites are very strong when it comes to the Bissell PowerFresh Lift Off steam mop.

Summary

If you have floor types on which a steam mop can be used – with either light or heavy steam – this is a great option even if you never use the lift-off canister and attachments.

Those attachments simply make it that much more useful, though, and I’m sure you will come up with ways to use them. (My toilets have NEVER been as clean as they’ve been now that I can shoot steam into all the nooks and crannies around the lid and the base!)

You will want extra mop pads on hand so add that into the overall cost and you should use distilled water to keep the mop lasting longer but you should find that cheap enough at your local grocery store.

I have several steam mops to choose from and while the Haan had been my go-to choice for years, this is the one I use most often these days because it’s quieter and it does more. The kids and husband like to use it, too!

Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop with Lift Off Canister

2 Comments

  1. This is an absolute rip off. It leaks water every wear and once they have your money they don’t want to know you. Keep away from this heap of **** product.

    1. Richard, I’m so sorry that’s the experience you had. I’d had mine for over a couple of years and had no issues with it UNTIL I lent it out to a family member who let it run out of water while using it and then it stopped working. I then had the same issue as you with water just running out of it. But I loved how it worked until that point and got a lot of use out of it. Thank you for letting me know that you didn’t have success working with Bissell once you ran into an issue.

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